This is my third Yellow-rumped Warbler painting of the year, which is probably a record for me. We had a lot of great fall color and plenty of yellow-rumps in the area. Although the bird is based on photos I took last fall in northwest Ohio, the background colors were mostly inspired by the paper birch tree in our backyard, which put on a spectacular display last month. Though my Ohio photos had a drab gray-green background, they included attractive back lighting on the bird, making them ideal to re-invent with a different background and “tuned-up” lighting. I had a lot of fun working on this and trying the capture the glow you occasionally see on magical fall days.
Male birds with their showy breeding plumage seem to get all the attention. I have no data to prove it, but I’m certain they are the subjects of many more paintings. I’ve definitely been guilty of rendering more male birds over the years. Whenever I paint female birds, I really appreciate their subtle beauty, and some of my favorite paintings are of them. The same goes for fall warblers. One of my all-time favorite Michigan birds is the fall-plumed Chestnut-sided Warbler. They are too cute. I’ve GOT to paint one of those soon!
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